


Mangekyo Squad in Warring States Era

by Infinity_formation



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Kidnapping, Panic, Shisui is his own tag, Shisui needs a hug, Time Travel, Warring States Period (Naruto), but no gore or character death dw, crack prompt to non-crack writing, cursed tag issues, feelings of guilt and failure, none of the other archive warnings apply, note: labeled as choose not to use warnings cause not sure if graphic violence tag applies, world building practice
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:27:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22537759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Infinity_formation/pseuds/Infinity_formation
Summary: They don't know how they got here or what they're doing really, and it would be a lie to say that any of them are in good mental health.Itachi plotsShisui (has a crisis)- (is /fine/)- is dealingSasuke doesn't care who you are he Does What He WantsObito attempts self care in the warring states era
Comments: 53
Kudos: 379





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Inspired by Return to Innocence by WDW. Thanks to Sorera for letting me know the name and author! 
> 
> 2\. Pacing slows down after chapter 1 don’t worry. 
> 
> 3\. Hoping to do some writing on How Not to Ditch Shitty Grandpa later tonight but wanted to publish something to keep up the momentum (this is one of like, three - four already written early chapters for different stories that are on my computer and just needed tags and summaries).

Obito shivered from where he was curled up inside a particularly thick bush somewhere in eastern fire country. The last two days were catching up to him now that he was alone.

He had no idea what had happened, he’d been dead, then woken up in his fourteen year old body with three of his equally too young and confused cousins, two of which he knew for a fact were also dead.

The very, _very_ tense truce between him and the others once Itachi and Sasuke caught Shisui up to speed was purely based on necessity- they all recognized the suspicious implications of three of them waking up alive and all of them deaged.

He’d spent the first day on recon with Itachi and oh, the pit of his stomach was still queasy from knowing they’d not just been brought back from the dead, but landed somewhere in the warring clans era. He’d snagged some more time appropriate clothes with kamui, Madara’s horror stories playing through the back of his head the whole way, and had shared a moment of silent understanding with Itachi as the two of them returned to where Shisui and Sasuke were foraging.

The knowledge had not sat well with anyone. Obito didn’t think Shisui, and definitely not Sasuke, understood the full implications but it served to bring up one of the elephants in the room.

“What about the present Uchiha clan?” Sasuke had asked in his tiny seven or eight year old voice.

There was a moment of silence. Obito hoped one of the others would bring up the seemingly obvious.

“There are no records of us. At best, we’d need to pass as the descendants of a bastard child never brought into the clan, but there would be questions as to how we’d learned our skills or why their scouts had never heard of us until now.”

Blessed Itachi.

“There will be questions anyways. We all look too much like the clan pretend otherwise, especially Sasuke and Obito.” Shisui pointed out.

Sasuke frowned. He probably didn’t remember the distinguishing traits of their family that clearly, having lived alone for so long.

Obito knew he looked too similar to the shitty old man as a kid from his comments during their training. He tried to think back to those memories, think if there was any plausible location where a small family of Uchiha descendants could have been hiding out without being noticed.

“In any case we’ll need to change into the outfits Obito procured and hide anything with the Uchiha symbol.”

Sasuke’s frown persisted but he nodded.

While they changed into the older winter clothes and mantles Obito withdrew his old black armored outfit from kamui. He would have to remove some of the armor and roll up the sleeves and pant legs to fit his younger body but it was darker than the civilian clothes and helped fight off the chill in the winter air. He pulled on the dark mantle from the village and almost felt like he could blend in. If only it wouldn’t be so suspicious to wear his hood up and walk around in his mask the whole time.

It was one of the problems he was dreading the most: in the time of the villages, most shinobi lived _in_ a village and in peace times his chances of running into one that bothered to question the appearance of a rouge from another village was low as long as he kept to his own business and stayed away from the hidden villages. There were non-shinobi villages that had developed infrastructure around employing the power of minor rouge shinobi like Obito had pretended to be.

But in this era, shinobi and clans wandered everywhere. Civilians were more cautious, and simply running into any shinobi outside a formal alliance could result in parties he didn’t even know about marking him as an enemy.

Shisui had glared at him from across their camp as Itachi tried to fuss over Sasuke.

The next day had gone progressively worse as Shisui and then Itachi kept eyeing him distrustfully as they headed wherever they were going. As expected, when he took first watch with Shisui that night he had been offered an ultimatum: allow himself to be subjected to kotoamatsukami, or leave.

Obito had left.

Which is how he found himself shivering in a bush all alone in the dead of night with the first snowfall coming down. He should just move. He didn’t need to be here, he could curl up in kamui where it was warmer or keep moving through the night. But that terrifying dark claw of despair was starting to rise up in his heart and he needed something, anything, to anchor him to reality.

Fourteen. Fourteen and all it implied. He was so glad no one had awakened the rinnegan in this era.

Reminding himself that there were no eyes to summon the gedo mazo helped send the despair into remission and he focused on that over and over again. Sasuke’s eyes had been black, Madara hadn’t activated the rinnegan, Obito himself didn’t have it. It was a mantra that soothed his mind until he felt himself in control again.

As he reflected on what just happened he wondered if he’d left the others and refused to be put under genjutsu out of his own will.

He couldn’t tell.

He breathed a long sigh. Until someone developed the Rinnegan or he found a way to remove the tag that part of his situation didn’t seem likely to change any time soon. But that was ok, with the main condition of the seal inactive all that really meant was he couldn’t allow himself to be killed. Or try to kill Zetsu or Madara. Or possibly take actions that would prevent himself or any of Zetsu’s other pawns from fulfilling the plan.

He was fine. He just, needed a distraction. Needed to get into a town for a while and let himself get caught up in the lives of the people there. Yeah.

His own cover story was a lot easier to put together when he didn’t have to include the kids. He was Obito, no last name, picked up when he was young by a shinobi who’d lost their clan and kept along to help the man on his missions. They’d moved away from the Land of Fire and out west, but the man was dead now so he was wandering his way through Fire Country where he’d heard he was originally born.

There, simple.

He crawled his way out of the bush. Itachi and the others had been heading northwest cause they were idiots and probably unconsciously homing in on where Konoha would be.

Right in the middle of the Uchiha-Senju dispute.

They’d probably be picked up by the clan and made to fight in the wars, but if he and Shisui had their Mangekyo there was a chance Itachi and Sasuke did too. Honestly Itachi had been stronger when he hadn’t relied so heavily on it- he’d be fine either way. (He pointedly ignored the pang of jealousy at the thought of how whole, how complete he’d felt having both his eyes. He was proud of giving Kakashi his eyes but why couldn’t Kakashi be here if his asshole cousins were?) At least he’d know where to find the trio if he ever needed to.

Obito had never had strong ties to his clan beyond Madara and was too used to working independently as a rouge. He might eventually have to join up with a group if he was to stay in this past but he was in no rush to do so.

So Obito would go southeast. Any rumors that formed of wandering Uchiha bastard kids in their original location would, with any luck, get mixed around with several different version until clans couldn’t use it as good intel, and split into two solid sets of stories as they got further away from each other.

The distance would hopefully keep each region occupied with their own variation until Itachi and the others reached the Uchiha. Hopefully by the time word got to the Uchiha that there was another rumor of one of their bastards wandering around further south he’d be more firmly settled with whatever he wanted to do or have left the region completely.

He tried to ignore the rational voice in his mind that pointed out all the flaws in that plan.

So the southeast it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short intro chapter is short. :/ Let me know if Obito seems a little ooc. I was trying to incorporate the effects the age change and coming back from the dead would have on his thought process (less certain, more wary to name some) but looking at this weeks later I’m not sure if it’s still on target or just what I wanted for the story. Would appreciate any feedback on it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the comments on the first chapter! They make me so happy! I was home sick today and decided to work on this since so many people like it so far. Not the normal update schedule unfortunately. Next chapter we switch back to Shisui, Itachi and Sasuke.

It’s lucky Obito doesn’t need to eat or sleep because he hasn’t encountered a rest stop or any game he would have been able to hunt the whole two days he’s been walking. The small amount of food he’d eaten with Itachi and the others to avoid them learning more about his condition (and come to think on it, had that been intentional either?) had left him with complicated feelings he wasn’t eager to revisit. At least he didn’t have to climb up a tree to fake sleeping now.

It’s cold enough that he’s had to escape to kaumi a few times to warm up before returning and had almost picked up one of his masks to keep the cold off his face. He’s starting to envision taking some warm blankets into kaumi to create a little rest spot there. He may as well since he doesn’t need to spend money on food.

What he might need is an eye patch though. His fourteen year old self hadn’t cared about comfort and had kept his face covered. He doesn’t need to worry about infection with the Senju cells but the cold is biting and makes it especially uncomfortable.

He should keep an eye out for work while he’s in town. His money in kaumi probably isn’t standard for the time.

About an hour later he finally sees smoke rising in the distance through the canopy. He picks up speed and soon comes to rest on a large branch overlooking a small town. The roofs are already buried in the snow, only a few people walking about even though it’s around midday. At the edge of the town stands a noticeably larger building that he presumes is the residence for the town leadership.

Ok, step one: find civilization, completed. Now he could walk in and try to find work or stay on the edges for several days doing recon.

Madara’s stories about hostile shinobi everywhere and scheming civilians make him lean towards reconnaissance but would it be suspicious if someone caught him?

He has to pull himself together. No one catches him if he doesn’t want to be found. He will wait and watch from the forest.

The snowstorm drives him into town on the third day.

He shivers as he enters the local bar, glad that the place is crowded and lively and that his presence doesn’t attract much attention. He seems to further be in luck when he sees notices for hire tacked onto one of the walls. There are a few assassinations, bounties, and someone who wanted some deed from someone in the next town over.

In his time he could have completed any of these with ease in a single day. Now, without knowing the political landscape, the abilities of the clans in the area, and not wanting to draw any connections between himself and the Uchiha, he needs to be more delicate.

“Hey, hey, hurry up and pick one! Come on.” A voice complains from behind him. He turns around and takes in the boy behind him: long light brown hair, a scar across his lower left face, covered in a dull green winter coat, bandage bindings visible on his hands, also around fourteen or fifteen. Obviously another shinobi.

Obito steps to the side to allow the boy access to the fliers. The boy gives him a funny look before running forward and looking them over. “Aww, all the good ones are gone again. Stinkin Inuzuka.”

The Inuzuka were here?

The boy keeps him in his line of sight as he chatters and glances between the postings. “I’m Yamanaka Tomoko! I haven’t seen you around here. Is your family passing through?”

Shit. He tries to give an appropriate level bow, he has no idea how important the Yamanaka are in this time period but he’s an outsider passing through an area they clearly take missions from and he doesn’t want the attention that would come from being chased out.

“Just Obito Yamanaka-san, I don’t live with a clan.” He glances at the snowstorm outside. “I was looking for a place to stay for a week or so but I’m unfamiliar with the area, I didn’t mean to encroach. If you’ll permit it I’ll leave as soon as the storm blows over.”

He’s laying it on a bit thick but passing himself off as an agreeable small fry has worked wonders in the past and would be in his best interests again now while he gets a feel for the landscape. Most people find it easier to open up around the agreeable and nonthreatening after all.

And he _will_ move south. The Yamanaka are not a clan he wants to deal with right off the bat. It would be easier to move on and not have to worry about them poking at his secrets.

Yamanaka seems satisfied enough with his answer. His chest puffs up a little and he’s trying to look composed but Obito can see the smug pride behind his eyes. His brain whispers that this is a child hungry for complements and authority.

“Well, I suppose that’s ok. It’s not like we’re short on work right now. Here, you can have this one.”

He takes off one of the postings and tosses it to Obito. Obito catches it in shock and tries to turn it down. What does something like this mean in this time period anyway?! Is Yamanaka-san trying to get him into his debt? Show pity?

“No, no, that’s fine. I don’t need-“

Yamanaka’s gaze meets his single eye and Obito stops. The boy’s gaze is cold and calculating, he isn’t even trying to hide it. Obito glances down at the post. It’s the theft of the deed in the next town.

Either Yamanaka wants him killed, or he wants it completed without his clan being associated with the mission.

Obito sighs. What the hell, he said he wanted a distraction and he’s made worse decisions. He’s not killing anyone. Probably.

“Where are your borders? I never want to come back here again.”

Yamanaka chipperly shows him a political map of the area. He was stealing a scroll from Aburame territory.

He looks from the map to the boy, then to the storm outside again. He didn’t sign up for this shit. “You know what, the weather doesn’t look so bad. I think I’ll just-“

“Come on Obito-san~ Surely someone who’s skilled enough to live on his own like yourself can retrieve a simple scroll?”

Ah. So that’s what it is.

He sighs as he unrolls the mission again, going over the location and confirming the scroll’s obstacles. He’ll have to adjust the image he was planning trying to give off but he can make it work.

Shame that the only one-way see through film he had that hid his eye was in a mask that got smashed. He was already attracting attention.

Yamanaka stays glued to his side for the rest of the evening until there is a lull in the storm. With a nod he slides out the door and activates kaumi once he’s far enough into the woods to be out of sight. From kaumi he openes the rift to the coordinates enough to observe the room. The Aburame have two members guarding the scroll. A glance with the sharingan shows the air is full of their kekkei bugs. The scroll itself is thankfully free of any seals but has a few kekkei on it.

He closes kamui. He’d prefer to kamui the scroll into his dimension from a distance but that requires him being physically present in the room full of Aburame kekkei on the look out for unknown chakra signatures. There is a way for him to do this but it is… unpleasant.

He reappears in a dark corner of the building and wills his body to merge with the wood and travel back into the room with the scroll. He’ll need to be quick before the kekkei catch on; thankfully quick is something he’s good at.

Positioning himself in the upper right corner of the room he wills his eye to emerge from the wood enough to kaumi the scroll to his dimension, following only a few seconds later after disentangling himself from the wood and back into the heavy shadows.

It’s annoying coaxing the bugs off the scroll and back through kaumi so he can pick it up but nowhere near the disaster it could have been. He’s still grading the whole experience as a D level distraction though.

He’s still grumpy as he drops the scroll into Yamanaka’s hands the next day and turns around to leave, fully hoping to leave this behind him. Maybe he’ll look for civilian work so he can get those blankets.

“WHAT?! HOW DID- Obito-san come back here I can’t be seen with this!!” He hisses.

Obito winces at the pitch as he tries to free his arm from the boy’s grip. The lack of give is distressingly telling of his fourteen year old physical ability. He has a horrifying moment of realization of the disaster this could have been if the boy’s grip was just a little tighter and he’d grabbed his other arm. He’s going to have to revisit this as soon as he’s safely alone. “You should have told me to deliver it somewhere else then!” He hisses back. “Let go, we’re making a scene.”

The boy does let go at that and draws himself up all important with his hands on his hips. “I told you to get this report to me on the _12. th_ What good is an inventory right before they restock?”

Obito’s eye twitches at the boy’s poorly attempted save.

Yamanaka sighs as if thoroughly put upon and grabs his arm again, thankfully still the left one, and leads him out the door. “Come on, help me make a supply run to make up for it.”

He tucks the scroll into a concealed pouch as they go out the door. When he still doesn’t let go of Obito after they turn a few corners he gives an experimental tug. The boy tightens his grip.

“Come on.” Obito whispers. “I got you the stinking scroll and I really have no desire to get involved in whatever spat is going on and have you guys on my tail. You can trust I’ll keep my mouth shut if only to stay the hell out of all of this.”

Yamanaka frowns. “What were you doing out here then?”

He grimaces. Yamanaka is being serious with him at least. “I wanted to see Fire Country. I was born here and I-“ well, there was no point trying to lie to a Yamanaka clansman. The awkward truth of it was- “I don’t really know what to do with myself right now.”

Yamanaka blinks. “So you just, thought you’d travel around Fire? On your own?” He speaks as if the very idea has never occurred to him.

Obito nods, wondering if he should be embarrassed.

Yamanaka laughs. “Hahahaha!! Man, you’re kinda stupid aren’t you?”

“Excuse me!?”

Yamanaka slaps his thigh in laughter as he keeps tugging him along. They eventually make it to one of the houses where Yamanaka knocks on the door sharply three times before dragging him off again, this time into the surrounding forest he’d been surveying the town from. The trees and vegetation are covered in snow from the storm the night before and it crunches beneath their feet, leaving a trail back to town.

Obito squirms. He doesn’t like this. With his eye visible his use of jutsu is severely restricted if he doesn’t want to be found out. Even taijutsu can be traced back to various clans. He’ll have to stick to forms of taijutsu he’d learned from prowling around the western boarder countries as Tobi. He isn’t that proficient in them, maybe able to match a low to mid chunin, which had been the point as Tobi but will be a problem if he really has to fight.

A big problem with half his limbs still fragile.

Maybe he should just knock the boy out. His guard is down enough that he could hit him before he noticed. But no. He’s curious to see where this will go. He needs information anyway and if worse really does come to worse he’ll expose his eye and get the hell out. Move southwest, than southeast again like he’d been planning.

Besides, the forest means less people can see them if he has to fight. Just because his taijutsu is probably shit right now, and he doesn’t want the attention from the mokuton or Uchiha signature techniques doesn’t mean he’s helpless.

It just means he’s going to need to end things fast, with kaumi if pushed, and stay underground for the next year.

If he sticks to keeping his abilities hidden.

A few minutes later and they arrive on the edge of a clearing. They stand in silence for a moment, the clouds from their breath and the shifting of the forest catching his attention as he tries to find the reason for their presence here. Finally a voice calls out from the other side of the clearing.

“This guy? Are you sure?” Another teen their age slowly moves out from the shadows. Tense posture, a slightly angular face with guarded dark eyes, dark brown spiky hair pulled back into a ponytail, and wearing a cloak that concealed everything but his boots. He screams Nara.

Kami, the bastard was right. He hasn’t even killed anyone yet and there’s a Nara poking around. What has he gotten himself into?

“He looks like he’d stand out too much to me.” The new arrival continues.

Yamanaka huffs. “He took the scroll _overnight_.”

The Nara’s eyes widen a fraction before narrowing on him. “Seriously?”

Yamanaka tosses him the scroll. He inspects it carefully before sighing and putting it in his own pouch. “It’s real.”

His eyes are cold as he makes eye contact with Obito. “I didn’t think the Uchiha were specialized for infiltration.”

His eye twitches. He knew it was a matter of time before people made accusations, was part of his plan even, but this was precisely why he hadn’t wanted to be around the Yamanaka so soon. Even in these times the Akimichi -Nara-Yamanaka alliance is strong. Running into a Yamanaka means a Nara isn’t far behind, and between the two of them and having so little time to construct a backstory and leave false trails he can’t string things along the way he likes.

“As far as I know they aren’t.”

“Don’t bother denying it. You stand out way too much.”

Obito scowls. He takes a gamble. “I don’t work for them. They shouldn’t even know about me.”

Nara raises an eyebrow and glances at Yamanaka who slowly nods. “He’s telling the truth.”

Nara only marginally relaxes. “A bastard then? I thought the Uchiha clan were too paranoid with their bloodline to leave loose ends unchecked.”

“It’s complicated.”

Nara huffs in dry amusement. “As long as you truly aren’t connected to the clan. Tomoko, you made sure he was alone?”

Yamanaka frowns beside him. His grip on Obito’s arm tightens. “There’s another group of three Uchiha, two our age and a child, recently spotted heading northwest towards Uchiha territory.”

Stupid, stupid, _stupid_ fucking brats. Letting themselves be seen.

Nara’s gaze sharpens at him and Yamanaka suddenly twists the arm he’s been holding behind him. He fights back the instinct to activate kaumi and lets himself be pushed to his knees in the snow instead.

“ _Shouldn’t_ know about you, huh? Sounds to me like they might.” He draws a kuni and takes a step forward.

As if that’s threatening but he’s so fed up. So tired of their pestering when all he wanted was to find a small town to watch civilians mull about their lives, pet the local cats, buy some blankets, maybe help some grannies for old times sake.

He’s so done that he wants to just snap right now, which will likely kill them. But, he doesn’t want to be like that anymore. He knows he doesn’t really want to kill these brats no matter how annoying they are. He’s so, so tired of being played around like this.

So he takes a deep breath in his mind and vents the only way he can that won’t kill the brats, damn the consequences.

“Fine! I had a spat with my cousins and ran off! There, you happy?! _They’re_ the idiots who think it’s a good idea to run into the middle of that mess.”

They blink, clearly shocked. Nara even lowers the kuni a bit. That was certainly not what they had been expecting. “You deserted your clan?”

Obito hisses. He doesn’t even know if he had. Maybe, once, though he could also call that factional dispute and get away with it.

“Is it still desertion if it was from a bastard branch outside the clan?” Yamanaka neutrally questions.

Nara sighs deeply with the air of one who’s had to put up with a troubling associate for most of his life.

“Ok Uchiha-“

“ _Obito_ ”

“Obito-san, sure, whatever, we’re going to check you, and I suggest you cooperate if you don’t want word of you getting back to your clan before your friends make it there.”

Obito narrows his eye and barley stops a growl. “What does this “check” entail?”

Nara smirks. “Nothing too invasive. We just need you to hold still.” He weaves signs as he speaks and Obito is unsurprised to see Nara’s shadow wrapping around him. His glare narrows, promising retribution for any fucking around, as he feels Yamanaka place his free hand on his head.

(Ide-no) This is fine. At worst they’ll find out he is supposed to be dead, definitely nothing else, and he isn’t opposed to someone else tracking down the reason for his resurrection.

He feels the justu activate and clenches his teeth. Images of Sasuke, Itachi, and Shisui pass by his mind’s eye, a few of Itachi and Shisui training and in battle from when he spied on them as kids, of the night where Shisui had chased him away, a flash of Kakashi and Rin that makes him flinch, vague flashes of determination, anger, confusion and despair, followed by emptiness and apathy and the feeling of purposelessness he’s been feeling since waking up here, a flash of him teleporting himself and Itachi through the village they’d scouted with kaumi, using it to acquire the scroll. He violently protests in his mind at the focus on kamui and Yamanaka ends the jutsu.

“He really did run off.” He tells Nara “But I’m more concerned about those cousins of his making their way to the Uchiha.”

Fucking. Incompetent brat. He shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up. He knows better than that.

Nara frowns. “What do you mean?”

“The older ones are dangerous. They’re highly skilled in genjutsu and taijutsu and have some technique that sent our friend here running.”

Nara’s frown deepens. “Did you figure out what it does? What was Obito-san’s role in the group?”

Yamanaka shakes his head. “Just the anticipation of fear-“ “hey!” “-and urge to flee. They didn’t trust each other. But” Obito can feel the grin even if he can’t see it. “Obito-san has a transportation justu he uses for spying and theft. I didn’t see any scenes of him fighting so I think he specialized in non-combat roles while the other two did the heavy hitting.”

“A stealth transportation justu? That could be an assassination technique. Any one on one battles he was in wouldn’t be very long.”

Why couldn’t Nara be the one with the mind reading jutsu? It would make Obito’s death-life-whatever so much easier.

Yamanaka stiffens but Nara smiles for the first time. “Thankfully, that’s exactly what we’re looking for. You’re in luck Obito-san.”

Obito sincerely doubts that and raises an eyebrow. “Luck? How does any of this qualify as luck?”

With his luck they’ll be looking to recruit him into a cult.


	3. And I Woke Up to Find My Faith Died With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Obito is still spying on the town from the woods, Sasuke and Itachi start to reconnect. Meanwhile the last few days of his consciousness start to catch up to Shisui and he begins to scratch the surface of just how much his world is changing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN 1: Huge thanks to Derkow for getting me to start working on this a week or two sooner than I probably would have otherwise. I didn't realize I haven’t updated since February… Sorry everyone. That’s much longer than I mean to make you all wait. Please feel free to poke me on any of my stories if you guys want updates faster, I know I don’t have a fast update schedule. I can’t always promise I’ll be quick but it does motivate me to get them out and I love hearing from you guys. Also thanks to The_art_of_the_fanfirl and lovely kohai joeriezeilany for explaining how snow works and encouraging me as I dragged my feet through editing, and to RetroGamer for betaing. I mostly listened to them.
> 
> AN 2: So wiki says Shisui got his mangekyou as a kid but I’ve already written him as a teen now so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ It’s going to be around 15 for this fic and putting his death at ~17.

“I see we’re down a member.” Sasuke casually opens with as he saunters over the fresh layer of snow towards his brother. He’d noticed as soon as he’d woken up actually, Obito’s buzzy agitation noticeably absent from the tree he’d taken up watch in the night before, while Itachi and Shisui mumbled about how the winter would affect chakra rationing as they prepared breakfast and pretended everything was fine in front of him. Because clearly Obito running around on his own who knows where isn’t cause for concern.

Sasuke decidedly does not like looking seven again.

He’d gone along with it for most of the morning, biding his time for the perfect moment to confront his brother, which presented itself when Shisui volunteered to run a perimeter check. After all, it was better to confront Itachi about Obito’s missing presence once he was alone, he didn’t need Shisui there to tag team with his brother against him. He’s waited the last twenty minutes for Itachi to sink deep enough into his thoughts while sorting through the provisions he’d managed to scavenge with Shisui yesterday that he might catch him even partially off guard.

Itachi looks up at him from the pile of herbs he’d been inspecting.

He is silent for a minute. Their breath puffing between them in the cold air as they hold each other’s gaze. Just when Sasuke thinks he’s not taking him seriously, denying him a place in their planning on account of him being “too young,” Itachi begins to speak.

“He was too scared. Even taking into account our sudden revival and being thrust back in time to the warring clans era, Obito” he still speaks the name with a degree of disbelief “held himself with an unusually high degree of apprehension. I thought it out of character for him, and did not think it wise to risk the rest of our safety by keeping him near.”

Sasuke blinks at him. “You don’t think that might be because he’s worried about running into the real Madara? Or Zetsu?” Or his brother’s own personal dislike?

Itachi stares back at him. “Tobi was capable of becoming intangible and teleporting over great distances. Even if he ran into them, he would not have to stay for a confrontation.” He glances back down at the herbs, turning each sprig over in faux contemplation.

“I find it more likely he’s running from ghosts.”

Sasuke carefully doesn’t say ‘like you are.’ He loves Itachi, but some wounds are still healing between them. He doesn’t bring up his suspicion that Itachi’s real reason to remove Obito from their group was out of some desire to protect him from the man. Again. Instead he sighs and sits down across from him to help sort some berries.

Itachi looks at him in momentary surprise but doesn’t comment. They’re silent for a while as they work in peace. It’s quiet now that winter is descending and most of the animals have left or hidden. What a time for them to arrive in. Itachi is the one to finally break the silence once they reach the last few piles.

“You’ll need to be patient with Shisui while he adjusts.”

Sasuke raises an eyebrow at him.

Itachi explains “You’re used to him being older and more knowledgeable than you, but Shisui was never a rogue nin. His knowledge of long term survival outside the village is mostly limited to sanctioned missions, settlements, and long training trips.”

Sasuke nods. Survival as a missing nin is a different skill set than surviving on missions and sanctioned trips. He’d had to spend months in training with Orrochimaru before he was allowed to travel away from the base, and even that had required a guard for the first year.

Not to mention, he remembers Shisui liked to be loud.

“At least it’ll be easy to find him.”

Itachi smiles as they finish sorting the rest of the provisions. Sasuke stretches as Itachi seals their provisions into various travelling scrolls. “Where are we going anyway? Will he even have time to get us caught before we get there?”

Itachi twitches and… sighs. Sasuke pauses in his stretching to stare. “I’m worried about him.” Itachi confesses. “He’s only just learned about the… Incident; and given he gave his life in the effort to prevent it…”

Itachi trails off. Sasuke can see the weight of guilt that presses down on his brother’s shoulders. He wishes he could tell him it wasn’t his fault, that Danzo manipulated him, but they both know that even though Sasuke may have accepted what happened and forgiven him, Itachi would only take it as him not being willing to be honest with him.

“You were thirteen.” He says instead. “It doesn’t seem to be an age where we make our best decisions.”

Itachi’s smile is self-deprecating but appreciative.

They share a moment of silent appreciation before shifting back to the subject at hand. “Regardless, I can’t imagine he’s handling it well, and will no doubt feel conflicted in blaming me.” He outright fidgets. Itachi. Fidgeting. Sasuke can’t help but stare in disbelief.

“I’m not sure how it will impact his ability to adjust, but Shisui can be… vocal, on occasion.”

Which is his polite way of saying Shisui was, _is-_ is now, again, that’s going to keep throwing him off for awhile- one of the Uchiha who frequently ignited into righteous fits of rage when the things considered precious to them were threatened. Sasuke knows that level of open display was frowned upon when he was little, but he was never able to figure out if it was because of the situation the clan found themselves in or more in line with what the second Hokage had implied about controlling their emotions to control the grief from the sharingan.

“As for where we are going, I’d like to take us to the present day clan.”

Sasuke’s head snaps up in surprise. “What?”

“Your body is too young to sustain a serious fight, and we have no medic to allow for eye transfers. I’m used to using mine, but it wouldn’t be good for you and Shisui to do the same, as I have no doubt you would.”

What Bullshit. _Yes_ , Sasuke is going to use his Mangekyou capabilities. Itachi doesn’t get to decide that he’s going to be the only one who’s going to suffer to protect them.

Itachi continues. “On top of that, we don’t know this time or our potential enemies. We stick out too much, and I’d rather not risk us running into any surprises on our own.”

Sasuke smells bullshit again. He’s gets the feeling he’s missing something from the explanation but he can’t quite put his finger on it. Instead he asks: “What makes you think they’ll even take us? We’re posing as bastards right?”

Itachi smiles, the teasing smile he often used from their childhood when he was messing with him. Sasuke never expected to see it again. “You’re basically a walking stereotype of the main house Sasuke. They’ll have no choice but to take care of you until you’re able to fight again, and Shisui and I can already be sent out to war.”

Sasuke blinks. Stereotype? Isn’t that a thing from the stupid romance books Karin and Sugetsu are always complaining about to each other? He isn’t a character from one of those awful books. “I am not a stereotype! Take that back Itachi.” Wait, is that? He scrunches his eyes trying to look closer. “Itachi, are you laughing?”

Itachi raises a hand to cover his mouth as he slips the sealed scrolls up a sleeve and stands up. “We’d better go and see where Shisui got to, he’s been gone for awhile.”

He was! “You are! You’re laughing at me! Stop laughing at me Itachi!!”

But Itachi is already starting to sprint off. He gives chase but Itachi maintains his speed at a rate just fast enough that Sasuke’s young body can’t quite catch up to him. He can see his sides subtly shaking though.

“ITACHI! Stop laughing!”

\---------

Fuck fuck fuck fuck- Shisui breathes through the splash of cold water on his face. He can’t keep on like this. He’s kept a brave front in front of the others but the news that he’d failed so, so badly, caused Itachi’s and Sasuke’s lives to turn out like this, hadn’t noticed Obito… It’s too many failures, too high consequences, too much at once.

His eyes catch sight of the river again, carefully avoiding the still moving waters further to the middle and focusing on the bank that’s lightly frosted over. There’s a small hole he’d punched in the thin layer of ice but it’s small enough for him to deal.

And isn’t that just _another_ lovely discovery- not only has he failed to save his family but now he’s scared of running water. What a wonderful track record he’s got going. At least this time he can _see_ the water, not that he’s really sure how much of an improvement seeing it is…

Focus. He can’t stop to process yet. They aren’t safe here, and he needs to remain vigilant and in control. Once they’re safe- as safe as they can ever be here, or, really, anywhere, after all- _Once. They’re. Somewhere. Safe._ he can have his break down.

But the feelings are like _water_ seeping up from within him and spreading through his every vein, drowning him from the inside out. Seeping through the growing cracks in the dam he’s been trying to hold in his mind between the present moment and the consequences of his failure. He’s felt pain like this before, when he first awakened his mangekyou, but he didn’t realize that gaping hole could reopen and expand, that the very footing he’d unknowingly built his trust and whole worldview on could tumble into the growing chasm, leaving him with aching betrayal and self-blame to rebuild his understanding of the world upon.

He shakes his head. Process later.

Of more immediate concern is confiding his state to Itachi. He knows he really needs to talk to him, tell Itachi he needs to take command, that he’s falling apart and can’t be trusted to make objectively sound decisions when he can’t keep his head clear.

But that would put all that pressure back on Itachi, and hadn’t he just heard the disaster it had been to leave Itachi alone in that responsibility? He still doesn’t know what he should have done, what he should do now, but Itachi’s visible relief at seeing him when they woke up and the way he so quickly seemed to defer to Shisui’s decisions are shackles on his heart.

He wants to do the right thing and keep his baby cousins safe and happy.

He _needs_ to do the right thing and let Itachi know his decision-making is compromised before he fucks everything up AGAIN like he had with the clan and the village. Like he might have last night with Obito.

But, as much as he hates to think it, after hearing the story he doesn’t think he trusts Itachi’s decision making either.

Which makes him an _awful, horrible person_. He forced Itachi into that impossible situation at _thirteen_ out of desperation. Prodigy or not, he shouldn’t be questioning Itachi’s ability based on him not being able to fix a crisis of that magnitude and boiling point. It was his, _Shisui’s_ fuck up that had led to that, he tells himself. Too trusting, too optimistic, too naïve.

Danzo’s voice echoes his thoughts and he quickly forces his train of thought to move on before _that_ mess can rise too far to the surface.

Besides, Itachi isn’t actually thirteen now, despite not looking a day older than Shisui remembers. He’s 21. They haven’t wheedled Sasuke’s exact age out of him yet so Shisui, although 17 and physically the oldest of all of them at 15, may be the youngest one here. But they’d fallen back into the habit of letting him run things.

He splashes more freezing water on his face and uses the shock that comes with it to force himself from the run on thoughts.

He can’t judge Itachi’s decision making, but he knows that his own is compromised. Even if it hurts Itachi, he has to confront him. Has to tell him. Otherwise this decision to bring them back to the clan to seek safety from people who are _presumably_ thinking straight could also blow up in his face.

He suddenly hears the shifting of snow on the ground behind him. It’s only his fast reflexes that save him from the attempted grab as he spins around. It’s a full squad of 20 shinobi standing between him and the tree line, possibly more beyond the trees. The closet one is only a few feet away, hand still reaching out from where he’d tried to grab him.

Shisui pushes down on the urge to activate his sharingan. How did they sneak up on him? So many of them?

He’s suddenly very aware of the fast tempo of his breath and sound of water still flowing in the river behind him. Water he’s been shocking himself with, to shake him out of the more dangerous thoughts of Itachi and the clan and Obito-

Oh. He’s panicking. Distracted, no good, _fail_ -

He almost jumps back into the river when he suddenly sees the hand in front of his face. He barely prevents himself from falling into it, and it only causes his breathing to pick up even more.

He has to force his mind to focus on the threat in front of him, and not the river at his back. He doesn’t recognize any of the clan symbols they wear, nor any noticeable features matching clans he’s familiar with.

“Well, Kenta-san?”

He almost startles as one of the men farther back speaks.

Kenta, apparently the man who’s been trying to grab him, shakes his head. “If he is, it must be distant. It’s not the normal reaction.”

The other man nods and evaluates Shisui. He’s a good six foot something, tall for Fire Country, with light brown hair falling around his shoulders and a beard. His mantle is a soft brown that Shisui knows to improve camouflage, layered with different bands full of pouches and containers and what looks like a daito at his waist. The others are dressed similarly but with fewer tools. He’s likely the leader of this group.

“Where’s your family kid?”

Shisui raises an eyebrow. The man looks to be in his late twenties, but it’s been a while since anyone thought of Shisui as a kid. “Far away.” He’s not sure where this is going, but he’s not about to drag Itachi and Sasuke into it if he can help it.

The man nods, he appears to have come to some sort of decision. “It would be a waste to kill you here, surrender yourself to us and we’ll allow you to join a lower branch of our clan.”

What. He blinks and furrows his eyebrows, confused. This is so far out of the realm of what Shisui was expecting that it shocks him part way out of his panic.

His surprise must show on his face because one of the shinobi next to the leader chuckles. He’s about a half a foot shorter than the leader, with even paler brown hair tied into a mid length ponytail, and carries himself with an off-putting smugness. “Gakumin-sama, I do not believe the clans of Fire Country commonly partake in the practice. The boy is probably confused.”

The man gives Shisui bad vibes but he is right. Shisui _is_ confused. They’ve figured out he’s shinobi and they just, want to bring him into their clan? That’s not done. What’s the catch? Why expend the resources?

The leader, _Gakumin_ , frowns at the man in distaste but Shisui takes the pause in conversation to latch onto the first part as a place to start his questions. “You’re from outside Fire Country? What do you want with me then?”

Gakumin even doesn’t blink. “What does any clan want with a strong bloodline?”

Oh. Bloodline thieves.

Shisui doesn’t give himself time to think, in this state it will do him no good, instead he takes off up the bank, leading them further away from Itachi and Sasuke. Even in his panicked state his speed isn’t hindered; the extra chakra used to correct for the snow could eventually become a problem if the chase drags out long enough to tire him, but he can worry about that when he isn’t pressed between a pack of hunters and a moving body of water. In the meantime it’s simple work to avoid all the grabs for him and the barrage of lightning and earthen jutsu meant to obstruct his path.

It’s when he reaches the tree line that he discovers his real problem. Traps, everywhere he looks more traps. The large radius kind, used to close off entire sections of a battlefield.

With his speed, he might be able to make it through before they go off, but it’s a risky gamble. Would it be better to fight his way through his pursuers?

Before he can make a decision, one of his pursuers is suddenly in his space, forcing him to make a quick doge to avoid the punch aimed at the side of his head. He pulls out his tanto he’d hidden inside his mantle and slashes his attacker across the chest before taking the risk and darting into the tree cover.

Shisui is no expert in traps, but he’s used them on occasion. Enough to realize that whoever laid these may very well be an expert. If it weren’t for his speed and experience predicting where pursuers are likely to place traps, he suspects he would have been caught within the first two minutes.

But he was right to think there might be more enemies stationed in the trees. Just as he thinks he’s made it to the edge of the traps he hears multiple popping sounds go off around him. He resists the urge to turn on the sharingan, he can still navigate without it, and there’s a _difference_ between being captured by bloodline thieves after a suspected Uchiha, and ones who have seen the target has a sharingan. On the chance his panic dulls him enough that he’s unable to escape, it will likely make the difference between Itachi tracking him down alive or… not. Really not thoughts he should be thinking right now.

Sure enough he blinks back into the present to see a large cloud of poisonous gas has formed and is blowing towards him from three sides, forcing him to retreat back the way he came.

_Really_ , not the flashback material he needs right now.

It only gets worse as his pursuers are there waiting for him. They mostly use lightning natured attacks, figures it’s a Lightning clan out for a Konoha bloodline again- _focus._ He dodges to the side to avoid a lightning strike and a second later he’s hit with a volley of shuriken and rocks of all things across his back. What?

No time to think about it. He jumps out of the way of another punch, this one aimed at a shoulder joint, then another attacker aiming at his hip.

They’ve gotten faster. It’s a challenge to mentally track with their movements without the sharingan. He hears a wire snap in his left blind spot and pushes himself towards the right but _that’s_ where a log swings out to hit him. He dodges it only to find traps have been set off in his entire 360 degree radius and are closing in on him. He’s going to have to pick his poison or get hit by all of them.

He jumps through one of the rock showers which, although painful, is nowhere near comparable to the rains of kunai and explosives. It’s as he settles on a tree branch and hears another wire be cut that he begins to realize just _how many_ traps he avoided in his sprint through the trees.

It’s another 360 degree assault, and again the easiest way out is through a hail of rocks.

The pattern continues several times. What’s the point to all this? If they have access to so many supplies, why rocks- the next wire snaps and he tenses in preparation to jump. Only, when he sees the log swinging and goes to dodge his legs won’t move properly and the edge of the log clips him on his left side. He’s off his trajectory to the next branch and tries to correct himself, but his muscles protest and instead of a smooth landing on his target branch he misses and hits a wire on his way down to the next secure tree.

His side hits the next branch at a bad angle, the impact slamming all the air out of him and making him draw in a harsh breath. As he’s fighting to sit up and steady his breath he hears a hissing sound that’s growing louder. He looks up just in time to see a volley of timed bombs falling from above a second before they go off and he’s blinded in an all consuming light.

Flash bombs.

He clenches his eyes shut but it’s no good, his eyes are already blinded and stinging in pain from the onslaught of blasting light. He throws an arm over them to try and block out the light and it provides the perfect opportunity for one of his attacker’s to launch their next assault.

He tries to dodge, even blinded, but now he’s realizing the purpose behind all those rocks was to take out his speed to the point that he couldn’t avoid the traps. He’s able to hear the projectiles approaching but his muscles are bruised and slow him down.

This time it’s an onslaught of dulled kunai that rain upon him from every direction.

He stagers as he leaves the blast zone, arms guarding his head and trying to get his eyes to work.

It’s only the rush of displaced air that gives him enough warning to dodge a kunai aimed at his legs. It’s a person this time, not a trap, and that blow was after his tendons.

Aiming to incapacitate, not kill. That’s what this whole setup has been about. The chase and the poison, meant to put him into position; all the rocks, to keep lowering his speed and reaction time until he couldn’t escape; the flash bombs, to blind him; now they’re aiming to immobilize him.

_“Remember, aim for the legs.”_

No no no. He can’t get swallowed up by memories now!

There’s a stab of pain in his right arm, followed by a volley brushing right against him on either side and another rush of pain, then a strong arm smashes him across the chest and up against a tree trunk. He’s pinned.

The panic gets worse, his chest heaving with racing breaths. He fights with his mind to control his breathing and focus on the enemy before him but his body is throbbing and everything in him feels like it’s shouting in pain and drowning out thought.

The sound of approaching footsteps helps pull his mind from it’s inner turmoil. He tries to blink out the bright spots in his vision. Most of the group from the field has surrounded the area. Gakumin and the creepy man are advancing on where a large bulky man has him pressed to the tree. Not that the man is strictly necessary, he thinks, as he makes out the kunai pinning his clothes to the tree and sticking out of his arms and legs like a pin cushion.

“Indeed a lucky find Gakumin-sama. The boy surely would have given you a run for your money if not for the shock.”

“Shut up.”

“But it’s such a rare opportunity. Look, the eyes have awakened.”

Shisui hitches in a choked breath over the arm across him. No. Not again. But it has, the world has entered the sharp clarity granted by the sharingan. He clamps down hard on the chakra flowing to his eyes to deactivate it. He won’t allow them this prize. Has to do what he can to stay alive so Itachi can find him.

Creepy man huffs in disappointment but Gakumin gives him a strangely understanding look. “Do not fret. The Gakumin are not Harvesters. We will take care of you from now on.”

One of the others takes this as a que and walks towards Shisui, weaving through signs. He reaches out a hand encased in chakra towards Shisui’s head.

He can’t look away as it comes closer and closer. Thoughts come unwanted to the forefront of his mind. Itachi desperate and pleading with him at the cliff’s edge. Sasuke’s face at camp, so cold and closed off. Obito physically shaking as he chases him away. The clan all dead, all dead because of _him._

He **f** ai **l** ed

**h** e f **ai** le **d**

**h** e f **ail** e **d**

**he** **f** a **iled**

**he _faile_** _-_

A giant, glowing skeletal claw slashes right through the torso of the man reaching for him and disrupts his train of thought. Immediately everyone shifts in alarm, gazes traveling up the purple arm to the source.

Sasuke. Sasuke, only a few trees over, with his Mangekyo on full display, glaring death at the shinobi holding Shisui.

_No_.

Shisui feels ice in his veins. He opens his mouth to shout at Sasuke, to beg him to run, that his body is too small to last against such odds, when suddenly bodies begin dropping to the ground. Between one breath and the next, the party of 24 has been reduced to nine, and Gakumin and creepy guy are clutching at wounds in pain.

The man holding Shisui releases him with a shout and Shisui gets a short glimpse of Itachi before they’re off, picking up Sasuke in a burst of speed and then catapulting through the trees.

\-----

Gakumin Katsuhito suppresses his pain as one of his medics carefully wraps the wound in his side. He had been careless. So close to his goal he had lowered his guard and now his prey has escaped. Furthermore, he has eleven casualties and four men forced off the field for the foreseeable future, their wounds all exactly an inch away from fatalities- a warning.

He grits his teeth. The Uchiha are known to be vicious, he should not be surprised it extends to the bastards.

Still, the encounter was not without value. It has publicly confirmed the Gakumin’s belief that a shinobi in possession of a bloodline can be just as deadly raised outside of their clan, and thus, just as useful to Hunters. This will strengthen his case against the Takakawa and their Harvester faction. He thinks of the young Uchiha boy he’d almost acquired and smirks. A shame he didn’t get the boy’s name to track him down faster, but it is of little consequence ultimately.

Soon. He may have been set back today, but they all know it’s only a matter of time. The little group must be heading back to their clan to be so close to them yet still on their own. Likely a bid for protection, but it will do them little good. He’ll set up an outpost nearby and wait for his chance. He’ll beat the Hirotaki at this game, then use them to reign in their barbaric Harvester cousins.

Takakawa’s second son whines where he’s being treated on the other side of the camp and Katsuhito reluctantly sets aside his thoughts for now. He must see to those who can live to see another day, even the bastard’s whiny son. The guild station near the new town of Muramori to the southeast is only a half day’s journey at most if they go by tree, even carrying the wounded. It will also allow him to restock and recruit new members to replace those who fell today. After all, they still have the scheduled run on the clan itself.

\-------

He feels like he should say something, confront them or reassure them, something. But he’s just so tired. Too tired. Instead he chooses to focus on how Itachi’s shoulder is warm against his face and ignores the furious hissing and whispering going on around him.

He doesn’t need to know right now.

It’s too much.

He’s not sure what he can believe, who he can trust right now, what he thinks about… anything. Everything’s been so shaken up and turned upside down. But they came for him. Itachi and Sasuke didn’t leave him even after he’d royally fucked everything up for them.

Sasuke put himself in the open and used his mangekyou, despite his small body. Itachi was the only one who could have found him in time.

If they do hate him, it isn’t enough to dump him like the village had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspiration for the chase scene is from In The Eye of The Beholder by Authorship-senpai who writes an /amazing/ Shisui. I'm still learning how to write battle scenes and their's is incredible. Thanks to all you guys who've been leaving supportive comments on my last ones. 
> 
> Author did not grow up around snow, so sorry if any of this is off. Was going to do more research but the snow component delayed this by a week already, and now author has early symptoms (posting a few days later so far all good) so I’m basically just uploading everything I have as it is as fast as possible in case I get sick. 
> 
> Because I know some of you are curious, the discussion the four of them had the first day where they caught each other up to speed was a “need to know” primer. For instance Obito certainly never told anyone about the seal on his heart and Sasuke hasn’t bothered to tell anyone about the rinnegan. Also yes, Obito is in Muramori.
> 
> Going with the idea that warring clans era put a much higher priority on stealth and that priority switched over to heavy hitting in the larger villages once they were formed; with a relationship that the smaller the village the more they held on to prioritizing stealth techniques for all of their shinobi. While villages like Konoha only prioritize it for special designations of their shinobi like ANBU and specialized infiltration, etc.


End file.
